Bee opened the door, a wide grin on her face. "Welcome to casa Hatton-Sackler." She let us in, acting like a butler as she lead us to the living room.

Their house was huge. It needed to be with five kids and two dogs. I remembered how crazy it got when we were younger and the six of us played hide and seek or some board game we never finished because someone (usually Bee) would have a fit and quit because they were losing.

The wall above the couch was decorated with a collage of family photos. No matter how many times I came over I stared up at it like I'd never seen it before.

The Sackler kids all had the same light brown skin as their mom who was mixed with black and white. Kareem, their father, was full black and gave the boys their square faces. Bee was the only one of them to get their grandpa's green eyes, a fact she loved rubbing in her brother's faces.

"My mom set up a play pen for Taylor," Bee said, pointing to the pen in the corner. "I supplied the toys."

My mom chuckled as she set Taylor in the playpen. "Don't ever grow up, Bianca."

"Don't plan on it."

"Nia!" Mrs. Hatton gasped when she walked in from the kitchen. "And is that Taylor?"

While our mother's talked Bee and I snuck up to her room.

Bee's bedroom was just as bright and bubbly as she was. Baby blue walls covered in pictures of her life over the years and Disney posters. There were about twenty stuffed animals arranged on her queen sized bed and a bright yellow futon against one wall.

Once behind closed doors I wanted to tell her about what happened at Tiny Sprouts. The way Nolan grabbed my hand and made something short circuit in my brain. One look at my best friend, though, and I knew now was not the time.

She plopped down on the futon, hugging a Lotso bear to her chest. The smile from before was gone, replace with a worried frown as she chewed her bottom lip.

"What's wrong?" I sat next to her, watching her intently.

"I'm freaking out."

"About what?"

"They called."

I wracked my brain for clues to what she was talking about and came up short. "Who called?"

She sprung up from her seat, pacing the room. "My mom's going to lose her shit!"

"Bee, what are you talking about?"

"The audition!"

For as long as I could remember Bee had wanted to be an actress. She hadn't talked about it much in the last year or so. I thought maybe her mom had gotten to her, she never approved of Bee wanted a job in Hollywood.

"You never told me about any audition."

Bee stopped pacing to look at me. "Yeah, I did."

I shook my head. I would've remembered.

Her face morphed into a look of confusion. "Okay, maybe that was a dream." She slipped back on the futon, smiling a little. "It's just for this local pizza commercial, but it's a start."

"That's great, Bee!"

She frowned again. "That's if my mom doesn't find out and kill me."

Bee's mom didn't believe in pursuing  art as a career path. She herself was dentist. The boys were in school for "good stable jobs" as her mom called them. Bee didn't want a boring 9-to-5 job in an office somewhere. Honestly, I couldn't picture her in a situation like that.

The only person who did support her dream of being an actress was her father. When he died five years ago Bee was devastated for more than one reason. Not only did she lose her father, she lost the only person who could talk her mom into letting her take acting classes. 

Mrs. Hatton is pretty easy going except when it came to Bee's dream. I think that's why she and my mom were such good friends. They both were overly protective.

"She doesn't have to find out," I said. "At least not until after the commercial is done and on tv."

She pursed her lips as she thought that over. "It is just an audition. I might not even get the part. No point in stressing myself out over it now."

"Exactly."

Bee chuckled, running her fingers through Lotso's fur. "Look at us, lying to our parents about our side jobs."

That was true, even though I was still working on the job part.

"We're definitely the perfect daughters," I laughed.

"Oh!" Bee's eyes doubled as she smacked my arm. "Did you do the thing? With Nolan?"

I didn't approve of the way hearing his name made me feel. It was a crush fueled by the fact that I hadn't had any attention from a guy in months. At least not any from someone who wasn't a complete creep.

I told her about what happened at Tiny Sprouts. About the motorcycle and Deshaun and the hand holding. I left out the parts about how our hands touching sparked something inside me. Swooning over holding hands was so middle school. It was embarrassing.

"That was a smart move," Bee mused. "You know Deshaun's going to tell everyone that he saw you together. King and queen is usually won by the schools biggest couple. I voted for Aaron and Sara last year because they always wore matching outfits."

My lips curled in disgust. "Is that what we have to do to win? Be that annoyingly cute couple?" I couldn't even picture Nolan in anything but black. If I tried to match him we'd just end up being some weird emo couple.

"Bee! Jade! Food's done!" Kevin, Bee's step dad called up the stairs.

"I'll do some research on past winners," she said as we left her room. "I'm going to personally make sure you win."

* * *

Once we were back home I went up to my room to start on some homework. It was hard to focus on required reading when all I could think about was Nolan. Being his pretend girlfriend. His hand in mine. Were we really going through with this?

It dawned on me that it was August and prom wasn't until May. We'd have to do this all year. Could we really fake a relationship that long?

My phone pinged. It was another text from my dad, I'll be there on Sunday. Let me know where you want to meet up.

How could anyone be that clueless? Did he really think that I wanted to see him after what he did. Was he so delusional that the thought I'd just pretend that I wasn't hurt? He hadn't apologize or asked how we were doing. Did he even think about Taylor?

I wanted to throw my phone across the room. My hand itched to do something. Going to my closet, I pulled out a cheap little art kit that some well-meaning aunt bought Taylor for Christmas. Obviously since Taylor was only a few months old she would've just stuffed everything in her mouth, so mom gave it to me.

There were a couple of crayons, markers and a pad of white paper. Most importantly there was a small paint pallet, consisting of only ten colors. I grabbed a cup of water from the bathroom and got to work.

It had been a while since I finger painted. It was a lot more personal than using a brush. This way it felt like the paint was coming directly from me. Like all this shit that had been building up in me for the last few months was pouring out from my fingertips in shades of blue and yellow and green and orange.

I didn't know what I painting, not until I was almost done. Lucky, the zebra fish, stared back at me, surrounded by blue water and colorful coral. It was messy and all over the place, but so was my head.

I tried to convince myself that it was the fish that calmed me. It was impossible to lie to yourself, though. No matter what I told myself, Lucky didn't calm the waves stirring inside me. It was the boy I watched Lucky with.

//

Hi! Hello!

We got to see a little bit of Bee's life because I feel like I always neglect side characters lol

Do you think Jade should go see her dad?

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR READING!! <3<3